Machine for working cylindrical members of fusible material



1,631,674 J 1927- P. A. FAVRE MACHINE FOR WORKING CYLINDRIGAL MEMBERS OFFUSIBLE MATERIAL Filed Nov. 14. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Invent-v) P. A.FAVRE June 7, 1927.

MACHINE FOR WORKING CYLINDRIGAL MEMBERS OF FUSIBLE MATERIAL Filed Nov.14. 1925 5 sheets sheet 2 June 7, 1927. 1,631,674

P A. FAVRE MACHINE FOR WORKING CYLINDRICAL MEMBERS OF FUSIBLE MATERIALFiled-Nov. 14. 1925 s SheetsSheet 5 RC0 7a2/re "yen-tor Patented June 7,19 27 eerrso STATES, PATENT-OFFICE.

PIERRE ANDRE FAVRE, or ceases; FRANCE.

MACHINE FOR WORKING oYLi'immoA MEMBERS: OF'VFUSIBLE MATERIAL.

Application filed November 14, 1925, Serial No; (9,139, and BelgiumDecember 19 1924.

The ii'ivention r 'chinei-i for working cylindrical inc ibers of Y, '7313 inaterial, and itn'iore particularly reiates to those for makingserum bulbs from glass tubes or rods.

Its object elliore' is to chines such that they an various requirenientso't It consists cl "y in providing machines of the type in q estio'nwith prehensile nieinbers adapted to seize at a number of equidistantpoints and to'hcld the t drical member to be worked c s, they areint'endc fl for e inple'to' carryout work upon a glessrod in order toina'he serum bulbs also coinpri means which are automatic or otherwisesuch th- (1)" the glass is so'i'tened over-a pro in each of the spacescomprised between the prel'iensile members, the number otwhichi'n'enibers a itunction of that of the bulbs which the same glass rodmay provide; (2) the prehensile inenibers are spaced equal distancesapart iroin' the centre of the arra'ngen'ient they "term; drawing outthe soi tened parts of the rod; the rod is cut at the drewn-out por ionsand this is either render these ma- Q va'v l I" t 1 Mei oettei 0 hendustrial practice.

done while the/said rod is in the prch'ensile i'ne'nibers or after ithas been withdrawn from them; (45) the said rod, having been either onlydrawn out or drawn out andcut oil, may be ren'ioved from the prehensilenien'i'bers; the latter are returned to their original positions; ((3) anew glass rod may be introduced into the said pie hensi'le' members. i

It consists, apart from this main arrangement in certain etherarrzrngeinents which are employed preterably at the same time and aredescribed more illy hereinafter.

The invention will more clearly be understood 11'0111 the descriptionhereinafter given in connection with the Accoi'npanying diagrainina'ticdrawings which description and teri'nined" part The iiiachi'ne consistsof the foll'oWing't-,

A frame 1 of suitable form to serve as upport tor the members enumeratedbelow; a horizontal shaft 2 join-nailed longiupon which are mountedfixed lleys-B and loose pulleys 4:, with a belt; 5 driven by a motor 6which is' preferablyeled tric; (2) as many equidistant preh'e'nsi'lemember's plus 2; the glass rod cangive bulbs, with parts of internaldiameter equalto the external diameter of the body of these bu bs, whichprehensil'e members 7 are air is ged at the same height in plane's per'pe'n dicular to the'aXi's "of the shaft 2 Each comprises two platesperpendicularto the said axis guided by one or more sliders 8 parallelto the latter. The plates are freely i tewards their lower part by the vat l towards their upper part two cylindrical apertures facii'ig eachother and between which a ring 9 is adapted to turn; The ring 9 isprovided with two arris'li') pivoted to it by one of their ends l'aci'edu'pon by a' spring 11 which tends t'o-dir'ec't the one towardsthe other, and their" other ends towards the axis of the ring} the wholebeing such that the prehen sile members 7 being assumed to be in place,the glass rod 12 may be made to enter from the top and be heldbetweenthe free arms 10 in the position for which it saxis and that ofthe ring coincide with each other, by forming in the upper part of theplates, grooves which are sufficiently large to'allow the rod to pass;by breitkingthe ring 9"; by arrang= ing; for the red 12 after it hasentered into the grooves in the plates, to pass between the arms 10 jand terminating the said arms by claw members adapted to seize the redwhen it is coaxial with the said ring; a means adapted to allow amovement of ret'stion at predetermined speed to be transmitted by meansof the r ot atable'shaft 2 to the 9; for example by mounting upon" theshaft 2 for each prehensrle member toothed wheel 13, forming, with thering 9 a broken toothed wheel of the same dia 'inet'er' as the wheelISand in connecting these two toothed wheels together by as man toothedwheels 14- as are necessary to overcome the.

dead point produced by the broken part of the ring; it means adapted toa l'l'ow the prehensileineinbers" 7 to'be moved to either side of thecentre of the arrangement they form by amounts which Vary but which areeqiieil for eii'eli; position the said nieai'is beiiigj formedadvantageously by making use of toggle levers the joints of which, wherethe branches cross, are formed by vertical. pins'l6 fixed respectivelyto the lower part of the prehensile meinliiers 7 and having their endsactuated .in a manner indicated hereinafter by two racks l7 and 18respectively, which racks are parallel. to the axis of the shaft 2, itbeing understood that the racks may be replaced by links acting upon thetoggle levers, that the prehensile members 7 may be actuated separatelyby means of members actuated by cone pulleys, that each prehensilemember may be displaced by. a

rack, the different prehensile members hemg actuated by gearings ofdifferentdi ameters by compressed air pistons; (5) a hand controllinglever 19 with two arms (Fig. 3) pivoted to a fixed shaft 20, one of thearms of which in the form of a segment is adaptedto raise one of thearms of a lever 21 also pivotally connected to a fixed shaft 22; a rod23 connecting the lever 21 to a ratchet wheel 24 by means of an arm 25;(6) an inclined surface 26 upon which slide two endless chains 27adapted to be driven by a shaft 28 upon which is fixed the ratchet wheel24, the chains being provided with teeth between which are held theglass rods 12 the whole in such a way that the teeth are successivelybrought above the grooves in the prehensile member 7 and that each glassrod falls at each operation in the said grooves; (7) a lever 2-9 (Figure3) actuated by the lever 19 in the second part of its stroke by means ofa broken ring 30, which is connected to a double arm 31 which ispivotally connected, one of the ends of which arm supports a rod 82which when actuated exerts a suflicient pressure upon the glass rod 12which has previously fallen in the grooves of the prehonsile members 7and compels it to enter the claws of the arms 10 and to take up acorrect position even if the glass rod is not quite straight; (8) ahorizontal shaft 33 journalled in the frame in a direction. which isparallel to the shaft 2 and upon which are mounted, fixed to it, asleeve 34 integrally attached to the arms 35 and 36 connected in such away, one to the key 37 l of a gas tap, the other to that of an air tap(hidden by the first one) that when the said arms are raised the saidtaps are opened and vice versa; an operating lever 38 allowing thissleeve to be rotated in the manner indicated above; another sleeve 39(Figures 1 ant 2) provided with a lever connected to a bell device 40which this lever brings back into its original position when the sleeve34 is raised by means of the hand lever 36, the action of the sleeve 33upon the sleeve 39 being only exerted in one direction, the onementioned above; (9) as many blow pipes 41 with as many blow burners forthese blow pipes as there are spaces between the prehensile members '7,the burners being interposed each at an. equal distance from twoprehensile members, pivotally connected to the frame and controlled bysets of lovers 42 themselves controlled by the lever 38 and the shaft 33so that the said blow pipes may be displaced normally towards the. axisof the rod which is assumed tov be in place in the said prehensilemembers, which blow pipes may be lighted or extinguished by opening orclosing the channels or carburant or air by oscillating'the controllinglever 38 in one direction or the other; (10) a toothed wheel 43 mountedupon a shaft 44 (Fig. l) and journalled perpendicularly to the axis ofthe shaft 2 and rotated continuously by the motor 6 tirough a system ofbelts and corresponding pulleys suitably arranged to provide thenecessary reduction in speed; (11) two shafts 45 parallel to the axis ofthe wheel 43 and journalled in the frame symmetrically relatively to thevertical plane passing through the said axis to the left and to therightof the said plane (assuming in the fol lowing description that theleft and the right of the machine are understood for everything which isshown in Fig. 1 when it is looked at from the front to the left and tothe right of the said plane), each of these shafts 45 having looselymounted upon them a toothed wheel 46 engaging with the wheel 43 andattached to them a toothed wheel 47, the two wheels 47 engaging with theracks; two other toothed wheels of the same diameter being arranged asshown in Fig. l

to the right and to the left of the wheels 46,

connected by reduction gearing to the shafts 45 which rotate them athalf speed, which additional wheels are adapted in the case when themachine comprises a very large number of prehensile members to act uponother racks which actuate the toggle levers to which they would beconnected, on each side and at a point equi-distant from thecorresponding end of the said levers and of their central axis, whicharrangement coi'nes under those mentioned above with reference to thevarious methods of extension of the levers; a means adapted to renderthe righthand toothed wheel 46 integral with its shaft 45 which may beobtained in various ways for example, by making use of an ordinarysleeve clutch 48, with a return spring.- 49 adapted to be driven intranslational motion by one of the ends of a pivotedhand lever 50 thislever having the function in one direction alone (the one in which it islowered) of impressing a fraction, of a turn upon the shaft 33 by meansof a stud and in doing this of lowering the lever 38 and its integrallyattached sleeve 34 which have been previously raised; a means adapted toenable the same result to be obtained for the lefthand toothed wheel 46but at other moments than for the righthandwheel 46 which result may beobtained in a similar way, that is to say with a pivoted lever 51 (Fig.l) and a clutch sleeve (14) a pivoted lover arranged in such a way thatthe lel thand rack by striking against it acts upon the bell device ll)connected] by a pivoted link mechanism to rod cnding'in a fork 53engaging overthe beltfi and then cliects the disengagement ol the shaft2; (15) a sort of locking: device adapted to enable, when thedisengagement of the shaft 2 has been completed, this shaft to berendered stationary in the position for which the rings 9 are placed asshown in Figure 2; this locking device is formed by a pivoted lever 54(l ig'. 1) connected to the bell device ll) in such a way that when itis driven b the rodding it puts under tension a spring attached to adevice 56 provided with an arm which then exerts a slight pressure upona ring attached to the shaft 2 and in which is termed a notch in whichlodges the arm 5'7 as soon as the shalt by turning brings the said notchopposite the said arm; (16) a hand controlling lever 59 connected bypivoted links 60 and 61 to an arm 62 integrally attached to a shaft 63journalled in the frame parallel to the shaft 2; the shaft 623 istherefore also rendered integral with a member carryinga rod 6stparallel to the shaft 2 running thewhole length o1 the prehensilemembers 7 and adapted when the lever 59 is loweredto encounter anarrangement of levers 65 and66wi'th link 66 interposed (an arrangementby prehensile members) pivoted to two fixed shafts'68' and 68 and tocause it to oscillate in sucha way that each lever 66-which terminatesin akind of shuttle 69 itself of such aform-then engages its shuttlebetween the claws of the corresponding arms 10, opens them out, raisesthe glass rod 1:2 (once the latter as hereinafter shown has been drawnout) and carries it upon an inclined surface 70 where it rolls; eacharrangement of levers G5 and (3 once it has acted in this way isreturnedto its original position by the a'ctionof a rod 71. parallel to thepreceding one and of the same length integrally attached to a shaft 72journalled in the frame and connectedto the shalt 63 by a set of pivotedlevers 78,

sucn that when the controlling lever 59'is raised the said rod71p'resses upon the levers (35 causing the shuttles (39 to pass betweenthe claws 10 in the opposite direction to the preceding one; (17) alever device of which for each pair, one of the branches 74 is attachedto the inclined surface 70 and the other movable one 7 5 is"niounted'upon a shaft 76 journalled in the frame parallel to the'sha-i't2- and controlled by the shaft 33 to which it is connected by anarrangement of pivoted levers and links 77, 78 and 79; (-18) and-atravelling band 80 which receives its movement from asuitable'arrangement of belts.

the ratchet wheel 24 to Inn The machine thus formed and suitablymounted} operates as follows:

\Vitih one finger of the lett'hand' the controllinglever 19 ispulled andlowered (this lever as well as theother controlling levers beingarranged so that they can easily be operated, as hereinafter described,when tac ing: the machine).

This lever acts in the first half of its stroke upon the lever 21'which, through the medium o'lithe members 23 and 25 causes he atractiono'i a turn which produces a forward movement of the endle chains27 which allow a glass rod to' fall in the'groovcs in the pr'ehensilemembers 7; the sector of the lever 19- their ceases to' act uponthedistrilniting device and holds it in'the position in which it is whenthe rod has fallen, andfin'th'e second halt of its stroke the lever actsupon the lever 29 which, through the medium of the member 31' compelstheglassfrod to enter 'betvrcei'r the claws otthe prehensile members 7(inserting device).

The lever l fl'is'then releasedand returns to its original positionundertlieaction of suitable SlJ'l'lflQFlSllCll as theone shown in Figure'l.The distributing device andthc ins 'rtin device return in their turn totheir original position.

' he came llllfitl', the let-t o e',- which operates the lever l9,'seizes the controlling lever 38 and raises it in order to rotate itthrough 90 about'its axis.

This lever 38' drives the shaft 33' and the sleeve 34' the elliect ofwhich isto':

l. Actuate the scissor device in such a way that" the movable branchesof these levers close upon the fixed branches T l and out the slenderportions which connect bulbs together in the chain termed in thepreceding operation; the bulbs which are detached from each other thenroll upon the inclined surface 70 to the travelling band which. carriesthen tonne end ol the machine wlu-n'ethey are"collectenin a box providedfor tlepurpose; V

2. Openby means ol? the arms" and the'gas and air taps which supply theblow pipes' l'l;

3. Actuate by means of the sleeve 39 the the belldevice l0 in-thedirection in' wliichtlie belt 5 pass roin'the loose pulley4 to the fixedpulley 3; I

l. Remove the arm 5'? from its engagement in the notch on the ring; 58;

5. Bring; the blow pipe device into p The blow pipes act. the shaft 2 isrcleae d and turns,transmitt ng: its rotation to the glass rod 12through the medium of the gears 13, 14 and thetoothed-ring9.

The glass rod'is then-heated atthe suitable parts comprised between theprchensile members 7.

Assoon as the parts have reached thedesired degree of fusion theoperating lever is lowered with the right hand.

The action O'i this lever is as follows:

1. It causes the shalt 33 to make a partial revolution of 90 in theopposite direction .to that in which it is moved when the lever ,88 israised and in making this movement it closes the gas and air taps.sothat the blow pipes are extinguished the pilot flames aloneremaining; alight :tor a subsequent operation.

2. It causes the blow pipe device to move ver opens, the effect of whichis to cause the prehensile members 7 to move away from each other andconsequently the softened parts of the glass rod comprised between thesaid prehensile members to be drawn out.

Before arriving in this extreme position which enables the prehensilemembers to be displaced, the left hand rack. by means of the lever 52and the pivoted link mechanism of which mention has been made,engagesthe belt 5 upon the loose pulley 4 the effect of which is to stopthe shaft 2 and by means of the locking device the said shaft 2 to berendered stationary in the position for which the ring 9 is arranged asshown in Figure 2.

lVhen the racks reach their extreme posi tion. the pressure of the handupon the lever 50 must cease.

The necessary time is allowed for the glass to cool down.

Then. with the left hand, the lever 59 is lowered the etlect oi whichis, by means of the extraction device 60 to 6.), to remove the glass rodfrom the claws oi the arms 10 and to carry the chain of bulbs upon theinclined surface upon which it rolls as far as the fixed branches 74- otthe scissor lovers which stop it in order to cut it in the followingwheel 4.? which sets upon the racks and brings them towards each other,thus closing the toggle levers while bringing as a consequence theprehensile members 7 towards each other to the points at which they werebefore being separated.

And a next operation is commenced.

The machine thus constructed may operate with only the hand controlmembers. But it is clearly understood that these members may be replacedby automatic means which would obviate wholly or in part the necessityfor these hand controls, for example by means of a wheel provided withsuitable cams which would be arranged on its periphery, a single turn ofwhich wheel would produce in succession the operations enumerated above,the cams raising levers similar to thesedescribed which are moved byhand.

The drive may be for example electromechanical pneumatic, or hydraulic.

Further, each prehensile member described may bereplaced by a prehensilemember of another type, for example by the one shown in Figure 4.

This other prehensile member comprises two wheels 81 upon which can restfreely a glass rod 12 which has passed through grooves provided for thepurpose formed in the plates of the said prehensile member, the saidwheels being driven, for example, by friction, rotating in oppositedirection, by means of a wheel which slides by means of a long key uponthe-shaft-2.

The glass rod having once been placed upon the wheels 81 is held thereby the pressure of another wheel 83 fixed to a pivoted lever 84.

For the remainder: the distribution of the glass, extraction, cutting,etc, the method of procedure will be the same as with'the precedingprehensile member, these pro-hensile members only differing from eachother in the manner in which the glass rod is held and made to turn.

It is understood that each lever 66 may be employed, itself or a similarlever, on the first prehensile member as well as on the second so as toexert, upon a corresponding given portion of the glass which has beenpreviously softened, a pressure which during the drawing out operationis adapt-ed to cause the portion which is drawn out to be narrowed.

As it is seen, whatever he the arrangenilent adopted the bulbs areobtained at the same time upon one single glass rod. These bulbs arecylindrical with two points and may comprise a contraction on each oftheir drawn out portions. which contraction is provided so'that bulbswith a flat end and a contraction may be obtained with another. machineconjugated with the present one.

It goes without saying and it also is clear from the above descriptionthat the invention is not limited in any way to this of its 'methods ofapplication nor to those of the forms of construction of its variousparts which have been more particularly described above; it includes onthe contrary all modi fications, for instance those in which, in orderto obtain the various operations of which mention has been made, themembers adapted to produce this result would be differentand a ranged indifierent ways from those which have been described.

What I claim is:

1. A machine of the class described comprising in combination grippingmeans for holding a rod of fusible material at a plurality of points,means for heating said rod intermediate said points, means for movingsaid gripping means so as to draw the fusible material and means forcutting the rod.

2. A machine of the class described comprising in combination grippingmeans for engaging a rod of fusible material at at least three points,means for heating said rod intermediate said points, means for movingthe. gripping means while maintaining equal distances between the pointsat which it engages the rod, and means for cutting the rod at aplurality of points.

A machine of the class described comprising in combination at leastthree members arranged so to grip a rod at a corre sponding number ofpoints, means for heating a rod in the spaces between the prehensilemembers, means for movingthe prehensile members while maintaining equaldistances between them and means for cutting the rod at a plurality ofpoints.

i. A machine of the class described com prising in combination at leastthree prehensile members adapted to seize a rod a corresponding numberof points, means for heating said rod in the spaces between theprehensile members, means for moving the prehensile memberslongitudinally with re-. spect to the axis of the rod, means for cuttingthe rod, means for removing said rod from said prehensile members, meansfor moving said prehensile members back to their initial position andmeans for placing a new rod in position to be held by the prehensilemembers.

5. A machine of the class described comprising in combination at leastthree prehensile members arranged'to seize a rod at corresponding numberof points, means for heating said rod in the spaces between theprehensile members, means for moving said prehensile members whilemaintaining equal distances between them, means for removing said rodfrom the prehensile members, means for moving the prehensile membersback to their original position, means for placing a new rod in positiontobe held by the prehensile members, and means for cutting the rod.

6. A machine of the class described comprising in combination at leastthree prehensile members arranged to seize a rod of fusible material ata corresponding number of points, means for heating said rod at at leasttwo points, and means for moving said prehensile members in alongitudinal direction with respect to the rod axis.

7. A machine of the class described comprising in combination at leastthree prehensile members arranged to seize a rod of fusible material ata corresponding number of points, means for heating said rod at at leasttwo points located between the prehensile i'nembers and means operableto move the prehensile members longitudinally with respect to the rodaxis while maintaining equal distances between said prehensile members.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

PIERRE ANDRE FAVRE.

